


Evening Prayers

by Chicago_Style_Death



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Odin is not so bad, Poetry, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 00:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15830049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chicago_Style_Death/pseuds/Chicago_Style_Death
Summary: Thor has a soft spot for poetry and love





	Evening Prayers

**Author's Note:**

> After the first Thor movie I always imagined Thor would have taken life as future king pretty seriously and studied up a bit. This work is mostly inspired by a bunch of love poems I read. And because I didn't want to write about anyone in particular, here's Thor in love with an anonymous female character.

She fell into a happy pattern of dozing off in Thor’s arms as they told stories or watched the stars absently and quietly. After she’d fallen asleep Thor would carry her to her room and that was where she would wake in the morning. She really just liked being near him. It was hard on Asgard. Thor’s movements were deeply scrutinized by his father so as to avoid embarrassment and he no longer had his mother around to keep his father’s critiques away. Night was all they had to be like they had been on earth; just together. She would reminisce with him about when they would cook together or read a book or go for walks and especially when they were with the rest of the Avengers. Whenever she was with Thor, all her insecurities disappeared. She could do anything and be herself anywhere. It was hard on Asgard. Most often she was caught up in her studies; something Odin had graciously gifted her with so she would not be so naïve. It truly was a gift until they began taking up most of her time. That was why she drifted off as the stars came out.  
However, one night she woke just he was tucking her in. She kept her eyes closed however, thinking she could perhaps drift off again with little interruption in her sleeping. Rather than leaving as she expected, Thor took a seat on the edge of her bed and pet her hair gently. 

“You are not your age,  
Nor the size of clothes you wear,  
You are not a weight,  
Or the colour of your hair.  
You are not your name,   
Or the dimples in your cheeks,  
You are all the books you read,  
And all the words you speak,  
You are your croaky morning voice,  
And the smiles you try to hide,  
You’re the sweetness in your laughter,  
And every tear you’ve cried,  
You’re the songs you sing so loudly,  
When you know you’re all alone,  
You’re the places you’ve been to,  
And the one that you call home,  
You’re the things that you believe in,  
And the people that you love,   
You’re the photos in your bedroom,   
And the future you dream of,  
You’re made of so much beauty,  
But it seems that you forgot,  
When you decided that you were defined,  
By all the things you’re not.” (e.h.)

He said all this as if it was a prayer and with a kiss to her forehead he made his leave. She tried to understand what had just transpired but couldn’t stay awake much longer. The next morning she meant to ask him about it at breakfast but never had the opportunity. She decided then to stay awake that night as well so see if he did it again. Just as before, he tucked her into bed and then sat by her side. 

“If I can stop one heart from breaking,  
I shall not live in vain;  
If I can ease one life the aching,  
Or cool one pain,  
Or help one fainting robin  
Onto his nest again,  
I shall not live in vain.” (Emily Dickinson)

One last kiss and he left her side. For days this continued; never the same poem. She began to wonder how Thor decided which he would recite to her in the quiet each night. The longer she stayed awake to listen, the more she came to realize he chose the verse by what she had told him each day. He chose each as a prayer to ease her insecurities. The day she thought she was not nearly a lady enough for the court she followed:

“They won’t tell you fairytales  
Of how girls can be dangerous and still win.  
They will only tell you stories  
Where girls are sweet and kind  
And reject all sin.  
I guess to them  
It’s a terrifying thought,  
A red riding hood  
Who knew exactly  
What she was doing  
When she inviting the wild in.” (Nikita Gill)

And the day she didn’t know if she had what it took to be who everyone wanted her to be; the day she felt everything was working against her:

“Fate whispers to the warrior  
‘You cannot withstand the storm’  
And the warrior whispers back  
‘I am the storm’”

Every night he would whisper the words in the starlight and they would follow her in the daylight. Then one night, as she waited, he simply kissed her goodnight. She felt empty without the words he used. Something was wrong and it lingered even after he left. Throwing on her robe she tiptoed into the halls to find him. She watched him turn not towards his bedroom but towards where they had just been discussing the stars; promising each other they would visit as many as they could. Keeping to the shadows, it was where she found him and his father. Odin regarded him quietly and it was obvious she had missed a portion of the conversation; the reason the two were standing there.   
“She will never be what you need. Why do you continue to pretend this will work? Tell me why I should allow this to continue. Prove to me that you, and she, are enough” Odin spoke calmly. What Thor replied surprised her more than it surprised Odin.

“I love her because she steals my socks,  
I love her because when I find her in them they never match  
I love her because they are too big  
And the grey part for the heel sits far too high  
But she doesn’t notice.  
I love her because she wears them to sleep and one always falls off  
And she wakes up in the night and can never find it,  
And her foot is cold.  
That’s why I love her.” (atticus)

He takes a pause and Odin waits as if he had been expecting this all along.

“I loved her  
Not for the way  
She dance with my angels  
But for the way  
The sound of  
Her name  
Could silence my  
Demons.” (Christopher Piondexter)

“She always had that about her,   
That look of otherness,  
Of eyes that see things much too far,  
And of thoughts that wander off the edge of the world.” (Joanne Harris)

“Not only did  
I love her,  
But I could tell  
The universe loved  
Her, too.  
More than others.  
She was different.  
After all; I would  
Be a fool not to  
Notice the way the  
Sunshine played with  
Her hair.” (Christopher Poindexter)

“The question   
Isn’t who is  
Going to let me;  
It’s who is  
Going to stop  
Me.” (Ayn Rand)

Thor was quiet, waiting for his father’s reply. She watched Odin smile in a way she had never seen; a smile reserved for that of a father to his son; a smile that conveyed the way he remembered his love as well.  
“I used to read poetry as well” he whispered and that was when she knew Thor had passed a test and he knew as well for he turned and left his father standing there. Once gone, Odin looked to where she was still hidden in shadow. She stepped into the light, head held high, an air of grace about her, and she walked away. That was how she knew she passed her test as well and how she realized that all Odin had done was to protect his son.   
She found Thor in his bed, back to his door. The moonlight lit the room enough to guide her to the other side of the bed; to move under the covers and into his arms. Then she recited the only piece of poetry she knew:  
“You are enough, a thousand times enough.” And Thor wrapped his arms around her tighter and she knew this was where she was meant to be and where she would stay.


End file.
